LAKE MANYARA WILDLIFE LODGE — Hotel in Arusha

We stayed in this property during our safari vacation in Tanzania. This lodge is an elegantly maintained property on the shoulder of the lake Manyara rift valley. The view from the lodge is excellent, and it offers a 180 deg view of the lake. It has a beautifully maintained lawn and an outdoor swimming pool overlooking the rift valley. The viewing platform and poolside bar offer great views as well.||||The rooms are standard-sized, with an ensuite bathroom and a balcony. We had two interconnected rooms for our family. The lobby is huge with full of exquisite furniture. The staff we found is amicable and welcoming. They always helped us whenever needed.||||The only thing I found about food is the limited choice. When we stayed, there were very few guests; maybe this is why the food choice was not great. The taste and portions were good, but as I said, the choice was minimal. However, I can downplay it a bit as long we fed well. I don't want to give them four stars for this but consider it 4.5.||||Overall, this is a great place to stay near...

We spent two nights at the Lake Manyara Wildlife Lodge. There were some very good things about the property, but also some areas that need improvement. |The great things were the location, the view is truly spectacular, and the lodge itself is beautiful. The grounds and decorations are gorgeous!! The food was good and the evening entertainment was fun. Staff was excellent and took very good care of us. |The rooms however are dated (especially the bathtub) and the mattresses are hard as a rock. They were horribly uncomfortable. |They also charged $20 for one cocktail and charged for water at dinner. We planned on washing our clothes since they offer laundry services, but they charge the equivalent of $2usd for every shirt and almost $3usd for pants. We had a week's worth of clothes for the two us, so it would have been over $50 for us to have them launder our clothes. We ended up washing it in the tub and hanging it out on the balcony to dry. |Overall, I wouldn't plan on returning here unless they make some upgrades...

A friend and I wanted to decompress after climbing Kilimanjaro and traveled to Lake Manyara, not knowing where we would stay. From Lake Manyara National Park gate, we noticed the lodge perched up on the hill's edge overlooking the Lake and national park (Great views). We figured we would go take a look and see if they were open, given the turbulence this pandemic has caused throughout the hospitality industry. When we got to the Lodge we were greeted by Abu (the lodge manager), Innocent (F&B/Bar manager), their friendly team, and what was for us an excitingly empty lodge (given that we wanted to escape and relax after our climb). It was frightening to hear how the pandemic had placed such pressure on the team and the lodge. Regardless, they have remained open all year and welcomed us with open arms. All-in-all a fantastic experience. For anyone wanting to escape to the Lake Manyara region, I can highly recommend staying at Lake Manyara Wildlife Lodge. The team was excellent and the...